Reference no: EM132986054

Scenario:

An employee has come to you with an issue involving a co-worker. In general, the sales team is a cohesive team, but now a relatively new member of the team is rubbing people the wrong way.

She does not get involved with personalized conversation or social occasions outside work. Other team members are struggling to build a personable rapport with her because of this. The other team members are feeling they cannot develop a connection with her. There is a strong need for the sale team to feel like all members are supporting each other. Without this personal connection or feeling comfortable with her the team are worried it will impact on their relationship and productivity.

You happen to know that the sales staff member in question is a valuable staff member with good customer skills and product knowledge. However, having differing cultural beliefs, she is having trouble relating to other team members. Many team-bonding activities involve out-of-hours social activities that she cannot participate in. She is in a bind because she would like to be accepted as a member of the team, but when all avenues to team-bonding are closed off, she feels stigmatised and perceived by others as an unfriendly person.

Question:

What would you explain to the employee (who came to you with the issue) how cultural expressions may be misinterpreted - and have been in this case?